5.  The applicant was born in 1964 and lives in Olsztyn.
6.  At the material time the applicant was editor-in-chief of the local weekly newspaper “Iławski Tydzień”.
7.  On 17 October 2005 the newspaper published an article co‑authored by the applicant, entitled “Municipality in danger; authorities fail to see problem”. It described in detail the situation concerning the sewage system in the Iława municipality. The thrust of the article was that the sanitary situation in the municipality was a matter of concern and posed significant public health risks; extensive investments were necessary to improve it; there was a serious shortage of available funds; the municipal authorities were dealing with the problems in a slow and incompetent manner; it was more important for them to save money than to prevent serious health risks and to avert a danger to the population; the quality of water was unsatisfactory; and the mayor, despite the fact that he had been in office for two terms, had failed to deal with the problems properly.
8.  In a letter to the newspaper of the same date the mayor of Iława complained about the article. The first paragraph of that letter was couched in ironic terms. The mayor expressed doubts about the applicant’s intentions and suggested that the applicant had been acting in his own personal interest. He maintained that the general tone of the article was inappropriate. He also voiced doubts as to whether the newspaper had any readers at all and whether it was therefore worth his while to react to the article.
9.  He further requested, referring to section 31 § 1 read together with section 32 of the Press Act 1984, that the applicant publish a rectification (see paragraph 22 below). He stated that the development of the sewage network was a priority for the municipal authorities and listed a number of projects undertaken by the municipality during the preceding five years. Further, three projects planned for the years 2007-2013 were listed. The mayor stated that the quality of the water was monitored by the appropriate services and referred to several projects for modernising and overhauling the existing sewage and sanitary systems.
10.  The applicant did not reply to this letter and did not publish it.
11.  On an unspecified later date the municipality of Iława brought a private bill of indictment against the applicant before the Elbląg District Court for the offence of failure to publish a rectification or reply as prescribed by section 46 § 1 of the Press Act (see paragraph 24 below).
12.  In his written pleadings of 4 December 2005 the applicant argued that the mayor’s letter could not reasonably be regarded as a request for rectification within the meaning of section 31 of the Press Act, because its content lacked the essential characteristics of a “rectification”. It was not related to the facts and it was not couched in objective terms, as stipulated by that provision. In fact, its first part, in particular, was very critical of the applicant and contained innuendos about his character, motives and about the newspaper and its journalists. This alone made it impossible to regard the letter as a request for rectification. Furthermore, the style of the letter lacked the objectivity which could be expected of a rectification. It could therefore not be reasonably seen as such. It resembled rather a “reply”, within the meaning of the same provision of the Press Act, expressing the value judgments and views of its author vis-à-vis the impugned article. Even assuming that the letter could be seen as a rectification, it did not comply with the relevant requirements laid down by section 33 of the Press Act as it was more than twice the length of the contested article.
13.  The applicant further submitted that the letter could not be seen as a rectification request because it breached his personal rights and the rights of other journalists working for the “Tydzień Iławski”, by calling into doubt their professionalism and personal integrity. The applicant referred to section 33 of the Press Act, which obliged an editor-in-chief to refuse the publication of a rectification or a reply if its form or content were incompatible with the principles of co-existence with others (“zasady współżycia społecznego”).
14.  On 13 December 2006 the Elbląg District Court found the applicant guilty of an offence punishable by section 46 § 1 of the Press Act in conjunction with its section 31 § 1. The court sentenced the applicant to four months’ restriction of liberty in the form of twenty hours’ community service per month and suspended the sentence for a period of two years. It further deprived him of the right to exercise the profession of journalist for a period of two years and ordered that the judgment be made public by being displayed at the Iława Municipal Office.
15.  The court noted that the facts of the case, for the most part, were not disputed by the parties. It found that the applicant had not replied to the mayor’s letter and had not published that letter or excerpts thereof, either as a rectification or reply. It noted that he was clearly obliged to do so under the provisions of the Press Act. He was aware of his obligation as he had previously published rectifications in the newspaper. No objective grounds existed which could be said to have legitimately prevented the applicant from complying with that obligation and, in any event, he had not invoked any such grounds. It was the applicant’s own decision to refuse to publish the rectification requested. Similarly, he had failed to reply to the mayor, explaining to him the reasons for his refusal to publish. His failure corresponded to the offence specified in section 46 of the Press Act read together with section 31 of that Act.
16.  The judgment further read:
“The above assessment of the [applicant’s conduct] is additionally supported by the fact that in the impugned article he had discussed a question of significant importance for the municipality of Iława, namely the condition of its sewage system, by saying that the mayor had failed to take effective steps in order to have the sewage system installed. Assuming that the accused took into consideration the significance of his article, he should have, as a diligent journalist and editor-in-chief, either published the rectification demanded by the municipality, which directly concerned the questions raised in the article and outlined the steps which the municipality had already taken, or informed the municipality of the grounds for his refusal to publish a rectification.”
17.  The court further held that the applicant’s failure to publish the mayor’s letter had been to the serious detriment of the Iława municipality as by making it impossible for a fair and public debate to develop it had undermined the confidence which a democratically elected municipal executive authority should enjoy.
18.  The applicant appealed, essentially reiterating his arguments as submitted to the first-instance court.
19.  On 29 March 2007 the Elbląg Regional Court upheld the contested judgment.